I've felt the sun rise on cold mornings. I've watched boisterous kittens at play. None of it matches the majesty and peace of the carnitas torta from Guero. It was life-affirming. It was harmony between two pieces of bread.

The Sik'il Pak was just okay.

I'm still in downtown PDX for, uh, reasons (there's a lot of food here). This time I went go Guero, which I guess used to be another food cart. Now they're a restaurant, which is kind of the classic success story. The space was clean and the decor was oh I don't care this Carnitas Torta sandwich was amazing.

The telera bread was soft and pillowy but toasted on the inside, great for wrapping your claws around without getting them greasy. It was the perfect container for what lay within. The pork was mouth-watering, but just a savory baseline for the other ingredients to play against. Crispy cabbage and pickled onion kept things cool and fresh, cleansing the palate as you ate. Between the veggies and the meat played a symphony of chili lime aioli, cilantro, and creamy avocado. Everything came together to be more than the sum of its zesty individual parts. I can only hope that I too achieve the level of perfection and majesty displayed by this sandwich, some day. The world is a better place for having it.

The Sik'il Pak was a kind of cold pumpkin seed dip. It was better with the jicama than the tortilla shell chip it came with.

But the sandwich. Oh, the sandwich! Five out of five fangs, and no regrets. I'll be coming back.

Brass Horse Books